Samuel Thornton hated New Years. He was
of the opinion that it was over-rated. An excuse to get drunk, have meaningless
sex, produce resolutions that would be forgotten by March. Samuel Thornton
hated New Years. What it did to his uncle, Daniel, the man who had not
hesitated in taking him in when he was ten years old and facing the foster
system. What it did to his cousin, Timothy, who had served his country proudly
despite seeing the effect that war had left on his father; divorced, living
paycheque to paycheque. Hurt.

Samuel hated fireworks. Hated them. He made a point of spending
the holiday at home. None of his university or work friends able to persuade
him otherwise. The curtains would be kept tightly shut. Music would play.
Anything in a pitiful attempt to block out the noise. The explosions. It never
worked. Always failed. Year in. Year out. It failed.

They told him. Each year. To go. Go have
fun. Go with your friends. Go. Away from our demons. And, each year, he would
roll his eyes at the arguments and, simply, be there. Younger. Unable to send
the demons from the room. Simply. There.

They were discussing Samuel’s classes,
sitting in the brightly lit lounge room, warm, safe. He was the first in their
family to go to university. They were unspeakably proud of him. The explosion
was sudden. Without warning. Voices stilling with the explosion. Tension. Fear.
Pain. Memories. Emotions tipped through the room. Palpable. Bitter. Tearing the
fragile fabric of calm in a single, vicious movement. England. Fireworks. New
Years. Explosion. Desert. War. Death.

The illegal ones were always the worst.
Always unexpected. You could brace for scheduled fireworks. Prepare.

Daniel Thornton cringed, arms raising
instinctively above his head. Protectively. He had not seen combat for over
twenty years. Noises. Explosions. Fireworks. Explosions. Death. The day his
convoy had exploded. Heat. Sudden. Explosion. A week from their unit shipping
home. Loud. Fear. Blood. Explosions. The day his best friend had been torn to
shreds. Beside him. Covered with blood. Only survivor. A broken leg, concussion. Not right!

The words sank into his conscious. He
was shaking, huddled against the wall in the corner of the warm room. No
recollection of moving. He nodded once. He was back. A flash of relief in his
nephew’s eyes before a hand was extended. Patient, ready to pull him to his
feet. Home. His son… His son needed them both… He took the offered hand.
Squeezed Samuel’s shoulder. “Good Lad.” His eyes were locked on his son as
Samuel managed a crooked smile before moving to crouch beside his cousin.

Timothy Thornton’s body shook with
violent, uncontrolled shudders. He had sprung up, reacting instinctively to the
noise that had been a daily event three short years before. Needing safety. His
shattered legs, damaged irrevocably, twisting, crumpling under him. Pain.
Terror. Memories of that bombing.
Being crushed. Buried under rubble. Helpless. Explosions. Pain. Pain. Fear. Death. Noise roaring in his
ears.

“Tim! Tim! You are safe.” A voice to
latch onto.

No! Fear. Sam! Sam! He shouldn’t be
here. Just a kid. A kid. His baby
cousin. Not safe! Pain. Fear. Shaking.

Daniel. Watching. Heart twisting. His
son. His wonderful, brave son was never meant to feel this way. Helpless. His
own hands still trembling. Not calm enough to speak. Not yet. Unable to fight
through his own lingering panic to reach his son. His son.

“No!” A guttural scream. A violent
flinch at the contact. Still shaking.

Daniel’s eyes closed. His boy. Hurting…

“Tim.” Sam. Soft. Gentle. Keeping his
hand in place on the arm.

What had they done to deserve this kid?
Daniel watched, helpless. Sam stretched on the floor beside his cousin. Eye
level. Good kid.

“Tim?”

Eyes locking. “Sammie?”

“Too old for you to call me that.”
Another half-smile. “Let’s get you up, yeah?” Sam’s voice was still very soft.
Gentle. Even. Careful.

Pain. God. Pain.

“Can’t.” Agony.

“You back?” Sam waited patiently.

“Yeah.”

“Completely?”

“Yeah.” Eyes locked on Sam’s. Safe.
Safe. Safe.

“Going to get you up. Going to hurt like
hell.” Desperate apology. Sam tightening his grip, just a little, over Tim’s
arm.

“Sorry.” Shame.

The hand tightened again, careful.
“Don’t you dare apologise. Not for
this. Not ever. You hear?”

Good kid.

Pain. Oh God. Pain!

Sam frowned. His cousin had lost more
weight. It was far too easy to ease the big man to his feet, and with Daniel’s
help, half carry him to the long couch. Tim’s face, grey, head drooping, teeth
clenched against unbearable pain. Damn fireworks. It was too early. Only
nineteen hundred hours. Too early.

“Sam?” Dan’s voice. Tired. Defeated.

Turning sharply, Sam was ready to argue
against the shame, weariness and self-loathing that he could hear in his
uncle’s voice.

“You are a good lad.” Daniel watched Sam
relax at the unexpected words. “Being here…” A shrug.

A grin flashed across Sam’s face. “I get
free food. You are stuck with me.” It was times like this his uncle seemed to
forgot how badly Sam had needed him when he was just a child. “Should I get him
something? For the pain?” Troubled eyes returned to his cousin. His idol.

“Give him a minute.” Daniel was staring
at his son. “He’ll tell you.” Too old a face. Grey. A drop of blood on his lip
where his teeth had clenched over it. Scars.

“You ok?”

Daniel spared a glance for his nephew.
So young. “Fine.” He chose to ignore the sceptical roll of hazel eyes.

Sam sat, cross-legged on the floor,
silent. Waiting. It wouldn’t be long. Never was. Tim would regain control over
the pain. Eyelids fluttered and opened. Residual panic.

Sam. No! “Shouldn’t be here, Kid!”
Panic!

“We are safe. We are at home!” Sam
caught a shaking hand and squeezed it. Hard. Reassuring. “It’s safe.”

“Sentimentalist.” Sam’s careful teasing.
“I was thinking of working in the hospital here once I graduate. Think you can
put up with me again if I moved home?”

Topics from before were seamlessly
resumed. Picked up where they had been dropped, scattered. The only difference.
Fear did not now circle the edges of the room. It choked its occupants.
Strangling them in its gleeful grasp. Never letting go. Bitter. Fear. Hurt.
Memories.

Dan sat close. Tim’s arm had flung out
and rested over Sam’s shoulders. Sam seated as close to the long lounge as
humanly possible.

For a moment it was calm. For a moment
they could pretend. For a moment, while the only one among them, who had never
seen combat but remained touched by war, spoke, they could remember that they
were loved. They were needed.

Noelle Anselmo:
Jesus H Christ! When I saw this was a genderbent I though it was just gonna be the two main characters, but I was so wrong and I LOVED IT! I had no clue where you were going with it, and I was waiting for the make up, was dreading the possibility of not making up, and just how you had the story u...

Lea Sutherland-Doane:
I love this story and it hurts me that it is on a cliff hanger. Please write the next story fast so I can enjoy more of your wonderful writing skills. Your writing skills are amazing and I cannot wait to read the sequel, I promise that this is the best book I have ever read and I love it will al...

Carolyn Hahn-Re:
I really liked this story! The writing was well done, and the plot was suspenseful. I couldn't stop reading chapter after chapter, on the edge of my seat! The characters were well developed, and true to form. Thank you so much for this wonderful read.

M.L. Bull:
Hello, Aalia!Your story compelled the emotional pain and struggle of a teenage girl very well.. The imagery was also convincing and well-written, showing the different personalities of your characters and their actions. However, I do think that many of your sentences are too lengthy and could use...

Sandra Estrada:
I loved every minute of it and I thank my lucky stars that brought me to the story, it's been a whirlwind of emotions, plot twist after plot twist but I never got tired of them. Abby and Kade's story is a hard one to understand but once you're submerged in their story and love, you can't help but...

Janaki Sundararaman:
The frame of the story has a beautiful structure on which the narration is spun with twists and turns tolook forward with lots of expectations about the coming chapters.There are many characters in the story line,all woven into intricate style to speak the story in its own way.The protagonist is ...

ianwatson:
The comedy is original and genuinely funny, I have laughed out loud many times reading this book. But the story and the plot are also really engaging. The opening two or three chapters seem quite character-dense but they all soon come to life and there is no padding, filling or wasted time readin...

ernbelle:
When I first started this story I was a little unsettled by all of the information that appears in the prologue, and wasn't sure if I would continue. However, I am very glad I did. The plot was very well thought out and really interesting. There were not any page breaks or markers to acknowledge ...